Methods for separating reference symbols and user data in a lower layer split

ABSTRACT

A radio unit, RU, in a network node of a wireless communication system is operable to receive, at the radio unit and from a lower-layer split central unit, LLS-CU, a plurality of downlink signals that include reference symbols, RS, and user data downlink, UD-DL, messages to be transmitted to a user equipment, UE, over a wireless interface. The RU can accumulate received data corresponding to the plurality of downlink signals into a concentrated data format. The RU can further receive a data-associated control information, DACI, message including a section description associated with the plurality of downlink signals. The DACI message can include an indication of how to perform the accumulating data operation.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/773,599 titled “Methods for Separating Reference Symbols and UserData in a Lower Layer Split,” filed on Nov. 30, 2018, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to communications, and moreparticularly, to wireless communications and related wireless devicesand network nodes.

BACKGROUND

Specifications have been drafted that provide interfacing between alower layer split central unit (“LLS-CU”) and a radio unit (“RU”) andthat support 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP”) long termevolution (“LTE”) and new radio (“NR”). A protocol may includedata-associated control information (“DACI”) messages, which may betransmitted from the LLS-CU to a RU. The DACI messages may containinformation about how to treat user data messages, transmitted LLS-CU toRU, with content to be transmitted over the air, or control data to bereceived over the air that is included in user data messages transmittedfrom RU to LLS-CU. The user data messages may be referred to as userdata downlink (“UD-DL”) and user data uplink (“UD-UL”).

Different types of DACI may exist. A commonly used DACI is one with theSection Type 1 and that contains information on how regulartransmissions are to be performed. The Section Type 1 DACI message mayinclude a list of Sections including: an identifier to map the DACI andUD-DL or UD-UL: Section ID; a logical RU port to support multipleoverlapping (in time/frequency) and independent address ranges ofidentifiers; a data direction: UL/DL; a range of physical resourceblocks, PRBs; a range of reference symbols, RS; information regardingwhich resource elements, REs, in the PRB range the rest of theinformation relates to; optional beam forming index or weights; optionalcompression method for beam forming weights; or user data (“UD”) formatand optional compression method.

Some approaches provide that multiplexing reference symbols and userdata may provide that the user data DACI sets the boundary conditionsand for each user data DACI a corresponding reference symbol DACI may besent. Separate reference symbol DACI may need to be sent for each gap inPRBs after the user data allocation is complete. For each user dataUD-DL, the reference symbols may need to be multiplexed by the LLS-CU inthe right sample position. For each gap in the user data allocation, theLLS-CU may need to generate a UD-DL with the samples for that symbol.Such approaches may lead to challenges that may include unnecessarysignaling overhead since the reference symbol DACI may need to be splitinto many sections, unnecessary signaling overhead since the user dataDACI needs to be split up over time between symbols with and symbolswithout reference symbols, and a scaling-limiting multiplexing functionin the LLS-CU to generate the compound reference symbol and user dataUD-DL. Either the reference symbol generation may be pushed out to eachuser data function and thus an integrity between functions may bereduced. Further, a singleton may be added to multiplex the flows.

Efficient handling of the reference symbols may be accomplished by usingseparate RU ports for reference symbols and for data symbols. In suchembodiments, the reference symbols may be the only data sent on these RUports and no multiplexing may be needed. In an effort to reduce thenumber of RU ports, which are addressable entities, current approachesmay not include RU ports having different capabilities. Further, suchapproaches imply that a versatile beam forming processing hardware maybe required in the RU.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments are directed to methods of operating a radio unit, RU,in a network node of a wireless communication system. Methods includereceiving, at the radio unit and from a lower-layer split central unit,LLS-CU, multiple downlink signals that include reference symbols, RS,and user data downlink, UD-DL, messages to be transmitted to a userequipment, UE, over a wireless interface, accumulating received datacorresponding to the downlink signals into a concentrated data format,and receiving a data-associated control information, DACI, messageincluding a section description associated with the downlink signals,the DACI message including an indication of how to perform theaccumulating data operation.

In some embodiments, the downlink signals that include the RS and UD-DLmessages comprise independent ranges in time and/or frequency.Operations may further include determining a signaling priority ofoverlapping resource elements, RE, samples and/or overlapping beamforming commands. Some embodiments may include multiplexing the RS andthe UD-DL in the RU.

Some embodiments include mapping the RE samples to multiple RU ports andgenerating a beam vector that includes multiple RE beam weights thatcorrespond to respective ones of the plurality of RU ports.

In some embodiments, the DACI message comprises a field that indicateswhich REs are omitted from a user plane UD-DL and the field comprises acombination of a RE mask that indicates which of the RE's a user isusing and a symbol mask that indicates symbols in which the RE mask isvalid.

In some embodiments, the DACI message comprises a field that indicates apriority of a section of the PRB, wherein the indication includesinformation that the section over-rules a previous section. Someembodiments provide that the DACI message comprises a field thatindicates which of a plurality of RE's is not included in the UD-DLmessage. Some embodiments provide a field that indicates a priority of aRE sample. In some embodiments, a priority RE sample will not beoverwritten by a subsequent UD-DL message. Some embodiments provide thatthe DACI message includes data regarding which direction a given one ofa plurality of RU ports will transmit in.

Some embodiments are directed to a radio unit, RU, in a network node ofa wireless communication system. The RU includes a processor circuit, atransceiver that is coupled to the processor circuit and that isconfigured to communicate with a lower-layer split central, LLS-CU, anda memory that is coupled to the processor circuit, the memory comprisingmachine readable program instructions that, when executed by theprocessor circuit, cause the LLS-CU to perform operations that includereceiving, at the RU and from the LLS-CU, multiple downlink symbols anddownlink user data to be transmitted to a user equipment, UE, over awireless interface. Operations may include accumulating datacorresponding to the downlink symbols into a concentrated data format,receiving a data-associated control information, DACI, message includinga section description associated with the downlink signals, the DACImessage including an indication of how to perform the accumulating dataoperation, multiplexing the plurality of downlink symbols and/or theplurality of user data messages in the RU, and mapping RE samples in theplurality of downlink symbols and/or downlink user data to betransmitted to the UE, to multiple RU ports.

In some embodiments, the DACI message comprises a field that indicateswhich REs are omitted from a user plane UD-DL. Some embodiments providethat the field comprises a combination of a RE mask that indicates whichof the RE's a user is using and a symbol mask that indicates symbols inwhich the RE mask is valid. In some embodiments, the DACI messagecomprises a field that indicates a priority of a section of the PRB andthe indication includes information that the section over-rules aprevious section.

Some embodiments provide that the RS and the UD-DL data to betransmitted to the user equipment are received in a user data down linkUD-DL message and the DACI message comprises a field that indicateswhich of a plurality of RE's is not included in the UD-DL message.

In some embodiments, the DACI message comprises a field that indicates apriority of a RE sample, wherein a priority RE sample will not beoverwritten by a subsequent UD-DL message. Some embodiments provide thatthe DACI message includes data regarding which direction a given one ofmultiple RU ports will transmit in.

Some embodiments herein are directed to methods of operating lower-layersplit central unit, LLS-CU, in a network node of a wirelesscommunication system. Methods include operations including sending,without accumulating or multiplexing, to a radio unit, RU, multipledownlink signals that include reference symbols, RS, and user datadownlink, UD-DL, messages to be transmitted to a user equipment, UE,over a wireless interface. Operations may further include sending, tothe RU, a data-associated control information, DACI, message including asection description that instructs the RU how to accumulate the downlinksignals.

In some embodiments, the downlink signals comprise independent ranges intime and/or frequency. Some embodiments provide that the DACI messagecomprises a field that indicates which REs are omitted from a user planeUD-DL and the field comprises a combination of a RE mask that indicateswhich of the RE's a user is using and a symbol mask that indicatessymbols in which the RE mask is valid. In some embodiments, the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates a priority of a section of thePRB and the indication includes information that the section over-rulesa previous section.

Some embodiments provide that the RS and the UD-DL data to betransmitted to the user equipment are received in a user data down linkUD-DL message and that the DACI message comprises a field that indicateswhich of a plurality of RE's is not included in the UD-DL message.

In some embodiments, the DACI message comprises a field that indicates apriority of a RE sample and a priority RE sample will not be overwrittenby a subsequent UD-DL message. Some embodiments provide that the DACImessage includes data regarding which direction a given one of aplurality of RU ports will transmit in.

Some embodiments provided herein are directed to a lower-layer splitcentral unit, LLS-CU, in a network node of a wireless communicationsystem. The LLS-CU includes a processor circuit, a transceiver that iscoupled to the processor circuit and that is configured to communicatewith a lower-layer split central, LLS-CU, and a memory that is coupledto the processor circuit, the memory comprising machine readable programinstructions that, when executed by the processor circuit, cause theLLS-CU to perform operations. Such operations may include sending,without accumulating or multiplexing, to a radio unit, RU, multipledownlink signals that include reference symbols, RS, and user datadownlink, UD-DL, messages to be transmitted to a user equipment, UE,over a wireless interface and sending, to the RU, a data-associatedcontrol information, DACI, message including a section description thatinstructs the RU how to accumulate the downlink signals.

In some embodiments, the DACI message comprises a field that indicateswhich REs are omitted from a user plane UD-DL. Some embodiments providethat the field comprises a combination of a RE mask that indicates whichof the RE's a user is using and a symbol mask that indicates symbols inwhich the RE mask is valid. In some embodiments, the DACI messagecomprises a field that indicates a priority of a section of the PRB andthe indication includes information that the section over-rules aprevious section.

Some embodiments provide that the RS and the UD-DL data to betransmitted to the user equipment are received in a user data down linkUD-DL message and the DACI message comprises a field that indicateswhich of a plurality of RE's is not included in the UD-DL message. Insome embodiments, the DACI message comprises a field that indicates apriority of a RE sample and a priority RE sample will not be overwrittenby a subsequent UD-DL message. Some embodiments provide that the DACImessage includes data regarding which direction a given one of multipleRU ports will transmit in.

According to some embodiments herein, functions corresponding to themultiplexing of control and user data may be performed in the RU insteadof the LLS-CU. Such embodiments may reduce signaling overhead andbitrate and may provide improved scaling possibilities of the LLS-CU.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in a constitute apart of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments ofinventive concepts. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram that depicts an example of a RANnode according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a schematic data flow diagram that depicts a downlink (“DL”)functional split between the LLS-CU and the RU for various physicallayer channels and transmission modes according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a schematic data flow diagram that depicts an uplink (“UL”)functional split between the LLS-CU and the RU for various physicallayer channels and transmission modes according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a schematic data flow diagram that depicts data flow ofcontrol information and user data between the LLS-CU and the RU forvarious physical layer channels and transmission modes according to someembodiments;

FIG. 5 is a schematic data flow diagram that depicts a signal flowdiagram related to DACI messages according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 6A-B are schematic block diagram that depicts a high level of aprotocol of the DACI message and UP-UL/UP-DL messages which carry UD-ULand UD-DL, respectively;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram that illustrates a physical resourceblock (PRB) to which data to be transmitted in the UP-DL message fromthe LLS-CU to the RU is mapped, where the PRB includes cell-specificreference symbols (“CRS”) in predefined locations within the PRB;

FIGS. 8A-B are block diagrams illustrating receive digital beam formingand analog beam forming in accordance with some embodiments herein;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a wireless deviceaccording to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a network nodeaccording to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless device UE accordingto some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a random access network (“RAN”)node according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a core network (“ON”) nodeaccording to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a wireless network in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a user equipment in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a telecommunication network connected viaan intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating via a basestation with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communicationsystem including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communicationsystem including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communicationsystem including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communicationsystem including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Inventive concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodimentsof inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled inthe art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutuallyexclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to bepresent/used in another embodiment.

The following description presents various embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. These embodiments are presented as teaching examples andare not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed subjectmatter. For example, certain details of the described embodiments may bemodified, omitted, or expanded upon without departing from the scope ofthe described subject matter.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a wireless device UE(also referred to as a wireless terminal, a wireless communicationdevice, a wireless communication terminal, user equipment, UE, a userequipment node/terminal/device, etc.) configured to provide wirelesscommunication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. As shown,wireless device UE may include an antenna 1107, and a transceivercircuit 1101 (also referred to as a transceiver) including a transmitterand a receiver configured to provide uplink and downlink radiocommunications with a base station eNB of a wireless communicationnetwork (also referred to as a radio access network RAN). Wirelessdevice UE may also include a processor circuit 1103 (also referred to asa processor) coupled to the transceiver circuit, and a memory circuit1105 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processor circuit. Thememory circuit 1105 may include computer readable program code that whenexecuted by the processor circuit 1103 causes the processor circuit toperform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. Accordingto other embodiments, processor circuit 1103 may be defined to includememory so that a separate memory circuit is not required. Wirelessdevice UE may also include an interface (such as a user interface)coupled with processor 1103, and/or wireless device UE may be an IoTand/or MTC device.

As discussed herein, operations of wireless device UE may be performedby processor 1103 and/or transceiver 1101. For example, processor 1103may control transceiver 1101 to transmit uplink communications throughtransceiver 1101 over a radio interface to a base station eNB of awireless communication network and/or to receive downlink communicationsthrough transceiver 1101 from a base station eNB of the wirelesscommunication network over a radio interface. Moreover, modules may bestored in memory 1105, and these modules may provide instructions sothat when instructions of a module are executed by processor 1103,processor 1103 performs respective operations (e.g., operationsdiscussed herein with respect to Example Embodiments).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a random accessnetwork (“RAN”) node 1200 (also referred to as a network node, basestation, eNB, eNodeB, etc.) of a wireless communication network (alsoreferred to as a Radio Access Network) configured to provide cellularcommunication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. As shown,the RAN node 1200 may include a transceiver circuit 1201 (also referredto as a transceiver) including a transmitter and a receiver configuredto provide uplink and downlink radio communications with wirelessdevices. The RAN node 1200 may include a network interface circuit 1207(also referred to as a network interface) configured to providecommunications with other nodes (e.g., with other base stations and/orcore network nodes) of the RAN. The RAN node 1200 may also include aprocessor circuit 1203 (also referred to as a processor) coupled to thetransceiver circuit, and a memory circuit 1205 (also referred to asmemory) coupled to the processor circuit. The memory circuit 1205 mayinclude computer readable program code that when executed by theprocessor circuit 1203 causes the processor circuit to performoperations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to otherembodiments, processor circuit 1203 may be defined to include memory sothat a separate memory circuit is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the RAN node 1200 may be performed byprocessor 1203, network interface 1207, and/or transceiver 1201. Forexample, processor 1203 may control transceiver 1201 to transmitdownlink communications through transceiver 1201 over a radio interfaceto one or more UEs and/or to receive uplink communications throughtransceiver 1201 from one or more UEs over a radio interface. Similarly,processor 1203 may control network interface 1207 to transmitcommunications through network interface 1207 to one or more othernetwork nodes and/or to receive communications through network interfacefrom one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored inmemory 1205, and these modules may provide instructions so that wheninstructions of a module are executed by processor 1203, processor 1203performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed herein withrespect to Example Embodiments).

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a core network CNnode 1300 (e.g., an SMF node, an AMF node, etc.) of a communicationnetwork configured to provide cellular communication according toembodiments of inventive concepts. As shown, the CN node 1300 mayinclude network interface circuitry 1307 (also referred to as a networkinterface) configured to provide communications with other nodes of thecore network and/or the radio access network RAN. The CN node 1300 mayalso include a processing circuitry 1303 (also referred to as aprocessor) coupled to the network interface circuitry, and memorycircuitry 1305 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processingcircuitry. The memory circuitry 1305 may include computer readableprogram code that when executed by the processing circuitry 1303 causesthe processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodimentsdisclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry1303 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memorycircuitry is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the CN node 1300 may be performed byprocessing circuitry 1303 and/or network interface circuitry 1307. Forexample, processing circuitry 1303 may control network interfacecircuitry 1307 to transmit communications through network interfacecircuitry 1307 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receivecommunications through network interface circuitry from one or moreother network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 1305, andthese modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of amodule are executed by processing circuitry 1303, processing circuitry1303 performs respective operations.

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a RAN node 120 according to someembodiments. The RAN node 120 may include or be part of an eNB or a gNB.The RAN node 120 is illustrated as including a lower-layer split centralunit (“LLS-CU”) 130 with two radio units (“RUs”) 140 connected to theLLS-CU 130. Although two RUs are depicted in FIG. 1, one a RAN node mayinclude one or more RUs. The LLS-CU 130 is capable of interacting withthe RUs 140 over the LLS-C control plane (“CP”) and/or the LLS-U userplane (“UP”) on the so-called “fronthaul.” As illustrated, the LLS-CU130 is a logical node that includes the eNB/gNB functions as discussedbelow. In this regard, the LLS-CU 130 can control the operation of theRUs 140 in some embodiments discussed herein. The LLS-CU 130 cancommunicate with the CP and UP functions of a core network on thebackhaul. The RUs 140 can transmit and receive downlink and uplink data,respectively, to/from one or more user equipment (“UE”) nodes 100 via awireless interface.

FIG. 2 depicts a downlink (“DL”) functional split between the LLS-CU andthe RU for various physical layer channels and transmission modes. Inthe DL, iFFT, CP addition, and digital beamforming functions may residein the RU. Additional PHY functions, including resource element mapping,precoding, layer mapping, modulation, scrambling, rate matching, andcoding may reside in the LLS-CU, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts an uplink (“UL”) functional split for various physicallayer channels and transmission modes. As illustrated in FIG. 4, in theUL, FFT, CP removal, and digital beamforming functions may reside in theRU. Additional PHY functions, including resource element de-mapping,equalization, de-modulation, de-scrambling, rate de-matching, andde-coding, can reside in the LLS-CU, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a schematic data flow diagram that depicts data flow ofcontrol information and user data between the LLS-CU and the RU forvarious physical layer channels and transmission modes according to someembodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 4, CP messages may be exchangedbetween an LLS-CU and an RU according to a scheduling and beamformingcommands transfer procedure. One purpose of CP messages is to transmitdata-associated control information (“DACI”) required for the processingof user data. For example, in some embodiments, this may includescheduling and/or beamforming commands. Messages may be sent separatelyfor DL-related commands and UL-related commands, as illustrated in FIG.4. Likewise, for purposes including increased flexibility, CP messagesmay be sent either jointly or separately depending on the channel forwhich information is conveyed. For example, PUCCH and PUSCH may bebundled or not bundled into a single CP message depending onimplementation.

In some embodiments disclosed herein, method and devices related totransmitting losslessly compressed user data between a LLS-CU and an RUare provided. In some embodiments disclosed herein, interfacing betweena LLS-CU, such as a central unit and or a baseband unit, and an RU,supporting 3GPP LTE and NR, is provided.

In some embodiments, a method includes transmitting data-associatedcontrol information messages (DACI) from an LLS-CU to an RU. In someembodiments, the DACI includes information that defines how the RUshould handle User Data messages that are transferred from the LLS-CU tothe RU, wherein the UD-DL includes content to be transmitted over theair. In other embodiments, the DACI includes controlling how data is tobe received over the air and inserted into at least one User Datamessage transferred from the RU to the LLS-CU. Downlink and uplink userdata messages may be referred to herein using the terms UD-DL and UD-UL,respectively.

In some embodiments, the UD-DL and UD-UL messages include: thecorresponding identifiers (Section ID and RU_port) as the correspondingSection Type 1 message; user data format and optional compression; and 1sample per RE, in any of the supported formats.

According to existing specifications, one sample per resource element(“RE”) may be sent in a data plane message for all REs in a physicalresource block (“PRB”). Each sample includes a plurality of bits, forexample, 30 bits. For OFDM symbols where only reference symbols aresent, samples for all REs may need to be sent even when not used tocarry user data. When the reference signals are sent simultaneously inall sectors of a gNB, the LLS-CU may transmit full bitrate/bandwidth toall radios for this symbol. For that reason, the possible pooling gainmay be reduced.

FIG. 5 is a schematic data flow diagram that depicts a signal flowdiagram related to DACI messages according to some embodiments. Asillustrated, one embodiment of DACI(A) is directed to a DACI messagesent from the LLS-CU to the RU with information describing a comingreception. In this manner, the RU sends one or more UD-UL messages incorrespondence with the request including samples of the received signalover the air. In another embodiment, DACI(B) is directed to a DACImessage sent from the LLS-CU to the RU with information describing acoming transmission. The LLS-CU in this embodiment is related totransmitting one or more UD-DL messages containing the information to betransmitted into the air. In yet another embodiment, DACI(C) is directedto two different DACI messages sent from the LLS-CU to the RU withinformation describing a coming transmission. The two DACI messagesdescribe at least one transmission method for different RE in the samesymbol in the same PRB. The LLS-CU in this embodiment then transmits oneor more UL-DL messages containing the information to be transmitted intothe air, combined for the two DACI.

FIGS. 6A-B are schematic block diagrams that depicts a high level of aprotocol of the DACI message and UD-UL/UD-DL messages which carry UD-ULand UD-DL, respectively. In some embodiments, the DACI messages containa common header, indicating the RU_Port_ID for the DACI, and then avariable set of Sections, each describing a coming transmission. In someembodiments, the UD-UL and UD-DL messages include a common header,indicating the RU_Port_UD for the UD-xx message, and then a variable setof sections, each including a section header indicating the content ofthe data field, and a data field, containing UD-UL or UD-DL data. Thesection header according to some embodiments also includes a SectionIDto map to the corresponding Section of the DACI message and the formatof the data in the data field.

In some embodiments, user data carried in the UD-DL message from theLLS-CU to the RU may include reference symbols that have been mapped toREs. According to some embodiments, the user data transferred to the RUin the UD-DL message can be compressed for transmission to the RU usinga bitmap representation that indicates which samples or resourceelements (“REs”) should not be further transferred and which ones thatshould be transferred.

In some examples, REs are known to carry 0's. For a PRB with onlyreference symbols being transferred, most of the REs in the PRB willcarry a 0, i.e. the RE will be empty. In the protocol specification forDACI, there already exists a means to signal which REs in a UD-DLmessage are marked as empty, namely, the reMask field. However, the DACIprotocol specification indicates that REs marked as empty shall stillhave data samples transferred in the related UD-DL and UD-ULtransmission.

The protocol also allows for multiple DACI sections to point to thePRB(s) with different reMask sets, to allow for different control (e.g.,beam forming) for the different sets of REs in the PRB(s). The currentprotocol allows for two DACI messages pointing to the same PRB for theRU_port ID. The corresponding UD-DL and UD-UL are still combined intoone packet for both those DACI sections.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram that illustrates a physical resourceblock (“PRB”) to which data to be transmitted in the UP-DL message fromthe LLS-CU to the RU is mapped, where the PRB includes cell-specificreference symbols (“CRS”) in predefined locations within the PRB. ThePRB spans 14 OFDM symbols in the time dimension (horizontal axis) and 12frequency subchannels in the frequency dimension (vertical axis). Eachtime/frequency element in the PRB corresponds to an RE of the PRB. Asshown in FIG. 7, the PRB includes two REs carrying CRS in symbols 0, 4,7 and 11. In this example, all other REs in the PRB carry zeros. Ingeneral, some REs in a PRB are known to carry zeros; in PRBs in whichonly reference symbols are carried, most of the REs will carry a zero.

FIGS. 8A-B are block diagrams illustrating beam forming in accordancewith some embodiments herein. In FIG. 8A, the downlink messages going tothe radio unit are accumulated, concentrated and/or multiplexed beforebeing delivered to the radio unit. In FIG. 8B, all of the downlinkmessages are delivered to the radio unit, which includes an accumulatorfunctionality.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a wireless deviceaccording to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, theoperation of FIG. 9 may be included in methods for operating a RU in anetwork node of a wireless communication system. Operations may includereceiving a data-associated control information, DACI, message includinga section description associated with the downlink signals and anindication of how to perform the accumulating data operation (block900). Some embodiments provide that a memory corresponding to theaccumulator function may span multiple RE's. Some of the RE's mayinclude symbols. Each UD-DL may populate a portion of the accumulatorfunction memory. Data from the accumulator memory may be received and/orused by the beam former. In such embodiments, the operations may includereceiving, at the RU and from a LLS-CU, multiple downlink signals thatinclude reference symbols, RS, and user data downlink, UD-DL, messagesto be transmitted to a user equipment, UE, over a wireless interface(block 902). In some embodiments, the downlink signals that include theRS and UD-DL messages may include independent ranges in time and/orfrequency. Some embodiments further include determining a signalingpriority of overlapping resource elements, RE, samples and/oroverlapping beam forming commands.

Operations may include accumulating received data corresponding to theplurality of downlink signals into a concentrated data format (block904). Some embodiments include multiplexing the RS and the UD-DL in theRU (block 906). Operations may further include mapping the RE samples toa plurality of RU ports and generating a beam vector that includes aplurality of RE beam weights that correspond to respective ones of theRU ports (block 908).

In some embodiments, the DACI message includes a field that indicateswhich REs are omitted from a user plane UD-DL. The field may include acombination of a RE mask that indicates which of the RE's a user isusing and a symbol mask that indicates symbols in which the RE mask isvalid. In some embodiments, the DACI message includes a field thatindicates a priority of a section of the PRB. The indication may includeinformation that the section over-rules a previous section. In someembodiments, the DACI message includes a field that indicates which ofmultiple RE's is not included in the UD-DL message. Some embodimentsprovide that the DACI message includes a field that indicates a priorityof a RE sample. In some embodiments, a priority RE sample will not beoverwritten by a subsequent UD-DL message. Some embodiments provide thatthe DACI message includes data regarding which direction a given one ofmultiple RU ports will transmit in.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a network nodestation according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. Operationsmay include sending, to the RU, a data-associated control information,DACI, message including a section description that instructs the RU howto accumulate the downlink signals (block 1000). Operations for methodsof operating lower-layer split central unit, LLS-CU, in a network nodeof a wireless communication system include sending, without accumulatingor multiplexing, to a radio unit, RU, multiple downlink signals thatinclude reference symbols, RS, and user data downlink, UD-DL, messagesto be transmitted to a user equipment, UE, over a wireless interface(block 1002).

In some embodiments, the downlink signals include independent ranges intime and/or frequency. Some embodiments provide that the DACI messageincludes a field that indicates which REs are omitted from a user planeUD-DL. In some embodiments, the field includes a combination of a REmask that indicates which of the RE's a user is using and a symbol maskthat indicates symbols in which the RE mask is valid.

Some embodiments provide that the DACI message includes a field thatindicates a priority of a section of the PRB, wherein the indicationincludes information that the section over-rules a previous section. Insome embodiments, the RS and the UD-DL data to be transmitted to theuser equipment are received in a user data down link UD-DL message andthe DACI message includes a field that indicates which of a plurality ofRE's is not included in the UD-DL message.

Some embodiments provide that the DACI message includes a field thatindicates a priority of a RE sample and that a priority RE sample willnot be overwritten by a subsequent UD-DL message. In some embodiments,the DACI message includes data regarding which direction a given one ofa plurality of RU ports will transmit in.

As provided herein, a radio unit, RU, may collect beam widths andsamples from different control and user data messages with anindependent range in time and/or frequency intervals. A signalingpriority of overlapping RE samples and/or overlapping beam formingcommands may be determined.

According to some embodiments herein, functions corresponding to themultiplexing of control and user data may be performed in the RU insteadof the LLS-CU. Such embodiments may reduce signaling overhead andbitrate and may provide improved scaling possibilities of the LLS-CU.

In some embodiments, RU port inputs may be built. A good illustration ofa RU port may include a vector multiplication. The RU port receives, viathe DACI messages, input on the beam forming weights. Such inputs mayinclude how to map each sample onto each transmitter branch. The size ofthis vector may be the number of transmitter branches. The RU portreceives, from the UD-DL messages, the samples. For example, one samplemay be received per RE. The output from the vector multiplication maythus be, per RE, a value corresponding to that transmitter branch.

An RU may typically include many RU ports. Each of these RU ports maycontribute to the value to be sent on that transmitter branch. Thecomplete RU handling of RU ports thus become a matrix multiplicationbetween RU port samples and beam forming weights.

The RU could build the beam vector by looking at the DACI message PRBrange in combination with beam index/beam weight/beam attributes andreMask. The RU may then apply the multiplication upon reception of theUD-DL message.

In some embodiments, the RU is configured to build the beam vector bylooking at the DACI messages without limiting the configuration to onlylook the sections perfectly overlapping in case of an reMask. Forexample, some embodiments provide that the RU may build the beam vectorfrom any DACI. In this context, if two DACI both address the same PRB,the reMask may be used to determine which DACI sets which RE beamweight.

Some embodiments provide the RU fills the RE samples from many UD-DLmessages. If two UD-DL messages include a sample for the same RE, the RUmay provide several options for addressing this condition. A firstoption may include using the reMask to determine which UD-DL has theright to send on that RE. A second option may include adding the twosamples together. In some embodiments, the user data UD-DL may be likelyto include a 0 on that sample (the reference symbol RE), and vice versa.A third option provides including an additional field in the UD-DLindicating if the message has priority. The problem may not occur ifcompression is added to allow omission of unused REs.

In some embodiments, the RU can allow DACI messages spanning multiplesymbols for user data and DACI messages spanning one symbol forreference symbols. This may reduce signal overhead. The DACI message foruser data may then have reMask set for the symbol that do not includereference symbols, and the DACI with reference symbols may override theinterpretation for that symbol.

Some embodiments provide that the separation of reference symbols anduser data may be added in the DACI messages by reinterpreting theexisting fields therein and by removing the strict usage of multipleoverlapping sections. For example, in some embodiments, the DACI may bemodified by adding a field to indicate which REs are omitted from theuser plane UD-DL. In this manner, the samples for the REs may not needto be transferred. This field may be a combination of the reMask and asymbolMask, where the symbolMask indicates the symbols in which thereMask is valid. In some embodiments, the reMask may be assumed to be0xFFF for non-marked symbols.

The DACI may also be modified to include a field to indicate if thesection has priority. For example, the field may indicate if the sectionover-rules a previous section. This can be used to indicate that thebeam forming of a reference symbol DACI may over-ride the beam formingof the user plane DACI.

In some embodiments, UD-DL message can be reused as is and/or extendedwith more indications corresponding to the current usage. The DACI mayfurther include a field to indicate which REs are no included in theUD-DL. In some embodiments, such field may provide information regardingRes that are expected in another UD-DL.

Some embodiments provide that DACI may include a field to indicate thepriority of the RE samples. The field may indicate if these samplesshall replace samples received in a previous UD-DL and thus should notbe overwritten by any coming UD-DL. In some embodiments, this may becombined with a bitmap compression concept and/or interpreted incombination with the reMask of the corresponding DACI Section.

Example embodiments of inventive concepts are set forth below.

Embodiment 1. A method of operating a radio unit, RU, in a network nodeof a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving, at the radiounit and from a lower-layer split central unit, LLS-CU, a plurality ofdownlink signals that include reference symbols, RS, and user datadownlink, UD-DL, messages to be transmitted to a user equipment, UE,over a wireless interface; accumulating received data corresponding tothe plurality of downlink signals into an accumulated signal; andreceiving a data-associated control information, DACI, message includinga section description associated with the plurality of downlink signals,the DACI message including an indication of how to perform theaccumulating data operation.

Embodiment 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the plurality ofdownlink signals that include the RS and UD-DL messages compriseindependent ranges in time and/or frequency, the method furthercomprising determining a signaling priority of overlapping resourceelements, RE, samples and/or overlapping beam forming commands.

Embodiment 3. The method of any of embodiments 1-2, further comprisingmultiplexing the RS and the UD-DL in the RU.

Embodiment 4. The method of any of embodiments 2-3, further comprisingmapping the RE samples to a plurality of RU ports and generating a beamvector that includes a plurality of RE beam weights that correspond torespective ones of the plurality of RU ports.

Embodiment 5. The method of any of embodiments 1-4, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which REs are omitted from auser plane UD-DL, wherein the field comprises a combination of a RE maskthat indicates which of the RE's a user is using and a symbol mask thatindicates symbols in which the RE mask is valid.

Embodiment 6. The method of any of embodiments 1-5, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates a priority of a section of thePRB, wherein the indication includes information that the sectionover-rules a previous section.

Embodiment 7. The method of any of embodiments 1-6, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which of a plurality of RE's isnot included in the UD-DL message.

Embodiment 8. The method of any of embodiments 1-7, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates a priority of a RE sample,wherein a priority RE sample will not be overwritten by a subsequentUD-DL message.

Embodiment 9. The method of any of embodiments 1-8, wherein the DACImessage includes data regarding which direction a given one of aplurality of RU ports will transmit in.

Embodiment 10. A radio unit, RU, in a network node of a wirelesscommunication system, comprising: a processor circuit; a transceiverthat is coupled to the processor circuit and that is configured tocommunicate with a lower-layer split central, LLS-CU; and a memory thatis coupled to the processor circuit, the memory comprising machinereadable program instructions that, when executed by the processorcircuit, cause the LLS-CU to perform operations comprising: receiving,at the RU and from the LLS-CU, a plurality of downlink symbols anddownlink user data to be transmitted to a user equipment, UE, over awireless interface; accumulating data corresponding to the plurality ofdownlink symbols into a concentrated data format; receiving adata-associated control information, DACI, message including a sectiondescription associated with the plurality of downlink signals, the DACImessage including an indication of how to perform the accumulating dataoperation; multiplexing the plurality of downlink symbols and/or theplurality of user data messages in the RU; and mapping RE samples in theplurality of downlink symbols and/or downlink user data to betransmitted to the UE, to a plurality of RU ports.

Embodiment 11. The network node of embodiment 10, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which REs are omitted from auser plane UD-DL, wherein the field comprises a combination of a RE maskthat indicates which of the RE's a user is using and a symbol mask thatindicates symbols in which the RE mask is valid.

Embodiment 12. The network node of any of embodiments 10-11, wherein theDACI message comprises a field that indicates a priority of a section ofthe PRB, wherein the indication includes information that the sectionover-rules a previous section.

Embodiment 13. The network node of any of embodiments 10-12, wherein theRS and the UD-DL data to be transmitted to the user equipment arereceived in a user data down link UD-DL message, and wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which of a plurality of RE's isnot included in the UD-DL message.

Embodiment 14. The network node of any of embodiments 10-13, wherein theDACI message comprises a field that indicates a priority of a RE sample,wherein a priority RE sample will not be overwritten by a subsequentUD-DL message.

Embodiment 15. The network node of any of embodiments 10-14, wherein theDACI message includes data regarding which direction a given one of aplurality of RU ports will transmit in.

Embodiment 16. A method of operating lower-layer split central unit,LLS-CU, in a network node of a wireless communication system,comprising: sending, without accumulating or multiplexing, to a radiounit, RU, a plurality of downlink signals that include referencesymbols, RS, and user data downlink, UD-DL, messages to be transmittedto a user equipment, UE, over a wireless interface; and sending, to theRU, a data-associated control information, DACI, message including asection description that instructs the RU how to accumulate theplurality of downlink signals.

Embodiment 17. The method of embodiment 16, wherein the plurality ofdownlink signals comprise independent ranges in time and/or frequency.

Embodiment 18. The method of any of embodiments 16-17, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which REs are omitted from auser plane UD-DL, wherein the field comprises a combination of a RE maskthat indicates which of the RE's a user is using and a symbol mask thatindicates symbols in which the RE mask is valid.

Embodiment 19. The method of any of embodiments 16-18, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates a priority of a section of thePRB, wherein the indication includes information that the sectionover-rules a previous section.

Embodiment 20. The method of any of embodiments 16-19, wherein the RSand the UD-DL data to be transmitted to the user equipment are receivedin a user data down link UD-DL message, and wherein the DACI messagecomprises a field that indicates which of a plurality of RE's is notincluded in the UD-DL message.

Embodiment 21. The method of any of embodiments 16-20, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates a priority of a RE sample,wherein a priority RE sample will not be overwritten by a subsequentUD-DL message.

Embodiment 22. The method of any of embodiments 16-21, wherein the DACImessage includes data regarding which direction a given one of aplurality of RU ports will transmit in.

Embodiment 23. A lower-layer split central unit, LLS-CU, in a networknode of a wireless communication system, comprising: a processorcircuit; a transceiver that is coupled to the processor circuit and thatis configured to communicate with a lower-layer split central, LLS-CU;and a memory that is coupled to the processor circuit, the memorycomprising machine readable program instructions that, when executed bythe processor circuit, cause the LLS-CU to perform operationscomprising: sending, without accumulating or multiplexing, to a radiounit, RU, a plurality of downlink signals that include referencesymbols, RS, and user data downlink, UD-DL, messages to be transmittedto a user equipment, UE, over a wireless interface; and sending, to theRU, a data-associated control information, DACI, message including asection description that instructs the RU how to accumulate theplurality of downlink signals.

Embodiment 24. The network node of embodiment 23, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which REs are omitted from auser plane UD-DL, wherein the field comprises a combination of a RE maskthat indicates which of the RE's a user is using and a symbol mask thatindicates symbols in which the RE mask is valid.

Embodiment 25. The network node of any of embodiments 23-24, wherein theDACI message comprises a field that indicates a priority of a section ofthe PRB, wherein the indication includes information that the sectionover-rules a previous section.

Embodiment 26. The network node of any of embodiments 23-25, wherein theRS and the UD-DL data to be transmitted to the user equipment arereceived in a user data down link UD-DL message, and wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which of a plurality of RE's isnot included in the UD-DL message.

Embodiment 27. The network node of any of embodiments 23-26, wherein theDACI message comprises a field that indicates a priority of a RE sample,wherein a priority RE sample will not be overwritten by a subsequentUD-DL message.

Embodiment 28. The network node of any of embodiments 23-27, wherein theDACI message includes data regarding which direction a given one of aplurality of RU ports will transmit in.

Explanations for abbreviations from the above disclosure are providedbelow.

Abbreviation Explanation BI Backoff Indicator CE Coverage EnhancementDACI Data-Associated Control Information DL DownLink EDT Early DataTransmission eMTC Enhanced Machine Type Communication FDD FrequencyDivision Duplex IoT Internet of Things LLS-CU Lower-Layer Split-CentralUnit LTE Long Term Evolution MAC Medium Access Control MTC Machine TypeCommunication NB Narrow Band NW Network PDU Protocol Data Unit PRACHPreamble Random Access Channel PRB Physical Resource Block RA RandomAccess RAR Random Access Response RRC Radio Resource Control RU RadioUnit TBS Transport Block Size UD-DL User Data-Down Link UE UserEquipment UL UpLink UP User PlaneFurther definitions and embodiments are discussed below.

In the above-description of various embodiments of present inventiveconcepts, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of present inventive concepts. Unless otherwisedefined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) usedherein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art to which present inventive concepts belong. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of this specification andthe relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

When an element is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”,“responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, it can be directlyconnected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or interveningelements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly connected”, “directly coupled”, “directly responsive”,or variants thereof to another element, there are no interveningelements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.Furthermore, “coupled”, “connected”, “responsive”, or variants thereofas used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described indetail for brevity and/or clarity. The term “and/or” includes any andall combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements/operations, theseelements/operations should not be limited by these terms. These termsare only used to distinguish one element/operation from anotherelement/operation. Thus a first element/operation in some embodimentscould be termed a second element/operation in other embodiments withoutdeparting from the teachings of present inventive concepts. The samereference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same orsimilar elements throughout the specification.

As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “comprises”,“include”, “including”, “includes”, “have”, “has”, “having”, or variantsthereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features,integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not precludethe presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore,as used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from theLatin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify ageneral example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is notintended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation “i.e.”,which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify aparticular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods,apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. Itis understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer programinstructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit ofa general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit,and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine,such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of thecomputer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transformand control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and otherhardware components within such circuitry to implement thefunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block orblocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present inventiveconcepts may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processorsuch as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referredto as “circuitry,” “a module” or variants thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, thefunctions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted inthe flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowchartsand/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or thefunctionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or blockdiagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks maybe added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/orblocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope ofinventive concepts. Moreover, although some of the diagrams includearrows on communication paths to show a primary direction ofcommunication, it is to be understood that communication may occur inthe opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present inventiveconcepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to beincluded herein within the scope of present inventive concepts.Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be consideredillustrative, and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments areintended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and otherembodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of present inventiveconcepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope ofpresent inventive concepts are to be determined by the broadestpermissible interpretation of the present disclosure including theexamples of embodiments and their equivalents, and shall not berestricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

Additional explanation is provided below.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according totheir ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless adifferent meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context inwhich it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus,component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referringto at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means,step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methodsdisclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact orderdisclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following orpreceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step mustfollow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodimentsdisclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, whereverappropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may applyto any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features andadvantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from thefollowing description.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described morefully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments,however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosedherein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limitedto only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter tothose skilled in the art.

FIG. 14: A wireless network in accordance with some embodiments.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in anyappropriate type of system using any suitable components, theembodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wirelessnetwork, such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIG. 14.For simplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 14 only depicts networkQQ106, network nodes QQ160 and QQ160 b, and WDs QQ110, QQ110 b, andQQ110 c (also referred to as mobile terminals). In practice, a wirelessnetwork may further include any additional elements suitable to supportcommunication between wireless devices or between a wireless device andanother communication device, such as a landline telephone, a serviceprovider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustratedcomponents, network node QQ160 and wireless device (WD) QQ110 aredepicted with additional detail. The wireless network may providecommunication and other types of services to one or more wirelessdevices to facilitate the wireless devices' access to and/or use of theservices provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type ofcommunication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio networkor other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wirelessnetwork may be configured to operate according to specific standards orother types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particularembodiments of the wireless network may implement communicationstandards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution(LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless localarea network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/orany other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as theWorldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth,Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network QQ106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks,IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet datanetworks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local areanetworks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks,wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks toenable communication between devices.

Network node QQ160 and WD QQ110 comprise various components described inmore detail below. These components work together in order to providenetwork node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providingwireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments,the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wirelessnetworks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices,relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that mayfacilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signalswhether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured,arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with awireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in thewireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to thewireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration)in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are notlimited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), basestations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs(eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based onthe amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, theirtransmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto basestations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro basestations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor nodecontrolling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (orall) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralizeddigital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to asRemote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not beintegrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of adistributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in adistributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodesinclude multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, networkcontrollers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base stationcontrollers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmissionpoints, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities(MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SONnodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As anotherexample, a network node may be a virtual network node as described inmore detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may representany suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged,and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with accessto the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless devicethat has accessed the wireless network.

In FIG. 14, network node QQ160 includes processing circuitry QQ170,device readable medium QQ180, interface QQ190, auxiliary equipmentQQ184, power source QQ186, power circuitry QQ187, and antenna QQ162.Although network node QQ160 illustrated in the example wireless networkof FIG. 14 may represent a device that includes the illustratedcombination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprisenetwork nodes with different combinations of components. It is to beunderstood that a network node comprises any suitable combination ofhardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features,functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the componentsof network node QQ160 are depicted as single boxes located within alarger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network nodemay comprise multiple different physical components that make up asingle illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium QQ180 maycomprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node QQ160 may be composed of multiple physicallyseparate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or aBTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their ownrespective components. In certain scenarios in which network node QQ160comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components),one or more of the separate components may be shared among severalnetwork nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's.In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in someinstances be considered a single separate network node. In someembodiments, network node QQ160 may be configured to support multipleradio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some componentsmay be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium QQ180 for thedifferent RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the sameantenna QQ162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node QQ160 may alsoinclude multiple sets of the various illustrated components fordifferent wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ160, suchas, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wirelesstechnologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into thesame or different chip or set of chips and other components withinnetwork node QQ160.

Processing circuitry QQ170 is configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being provided by a network node. These operationsperformed by processing circuitry QQ170 may include processinginformation obtained by processing circuitry QQ170 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedin the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based onthe obtained information or converted information, and as a result ofsaid processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry QQ170 may comprise a combination of one or more ofa microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other networknode QQ160 components, such as device readable medium QQ180, networknode QQ160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry QQ170 mayexecute instructions stored in device readable medium QQ180 or in memorywithin processing circuitry QQ170. Such functionality may includeproviding any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefitsdiscussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 mayinclude a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 may include one or moreof radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ172 and basebandprocessing circuitry QQ174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF)transceiver circuitry QQ172 and baseband processing circuitry QQ174 maybe on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radiounits and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RFtransceiver circuitry QQ172 and baseband processing circuitry QQ174 maybe on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or othersuch network device may be performed by processing circuitry QQ170executing instructions stored on device readable medium QQ180 or memorywithin processing circuitry QQ170. In alternative embodiments, some orall of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry QQ170without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete devicereadable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of thoseembodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readablestorage medium or not, processing circuitry QQ170 can be configured toperform the described functionality. The benefits provided by suchfunctionality are not limited to processing circuitry QQ170 alone or toother components of network node QQ160, but are enjoyed by network nodeQQ160 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless networkgenerally.

Device readable medium QQ180 may comprise any form of volatile ornon-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation,persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory,magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removablestorage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or aDigital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile,non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devicesthat store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used byprocessing circuitry QQ170. Device readable medium QQ180 may store anysuitable instructions, data or information, including a computerprogram, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules,code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executedby processing circuitry QQ170 and, utilized by network node QQ160.Device readable medium QQ180 may be used to store any calculations madeby processing circuitry QQ170 and/or any data received via interfaceQQ190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 and devicereadable medium QQ180 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface QQ190 is used in the wired or wireless communication ofsignalling and/or data between network node QQ160, network QQ106, and/orWDs QQ110. As illustrated, interface QQ190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s)QQ194 to send and receive data, for example to and from network QQ106over a wired connection. Interface QQ190 also includes radio front endcircuitry QQ192 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a partof, antenna QQ162. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 comprises filtersQQ198 and amplifiers QQ196. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 may beconnected to antenna QQ162 and processing circuitry QQ170. Radio frontend circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicatedbetween antenna QQ162 and processing circuitry QQ170. Radio front endcircuitry QQ192 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to othernetwork nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front endcircuitry QQ192 may convert the digital data into a radio signal havingthe appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination offilters QQ198 and/or amplifiers QQ196. The radio signal may then betransmitted via antenna QQ162. Similarly, when receiving data, antennaQQ162 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digitaldata by radio front end circuitry QQ192. The digital data may be passedto processing circuitry QQ170. In other embodiments, the interface maycomprise different components and/or different combinations ofcomponents.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node QQ160 may not includeseparate radio front end circuitry QQ192, instead, processing circuitryQQ170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected toantenna QQ162 without separate radio front end circuitry QQ192.Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitryQQ172 may be considered a part of interface QQ190. In still otherembodiments, interface QQ190 may include one or more ports or terminalsQQ194, radio front end circuitry QQ192, and RF transceiver circuitryQQ172, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface QQ190 maycommunicate with baseband processing circuitry QQ174, which is part of adigital unit (not shown).

Antenna QQ162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna QQ162 may becoupled to radio front end circuitry QQ190 and may be any type ofantenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signalswirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna QQ162 may comprise one or moreomni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receiveradio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Anomni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signalsin any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radiosignals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna maybe a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in arelatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than oneantenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antennaQQ162 may be separate from network node QQ160 and may be connectable tonetwork node QQ160 through an interface or port.

Antenna QQ162, interface QQ190, and/or processing circuitry QQ170 may beconfigured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtainingoperations described herein as being performed by a network node. Anyinformation, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device,another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly,antenna QQ162, interface QQ190, and/or processing circuitry QQ170 may beconfigured to perform any transmitting operations described herein asbeing performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signalsmay be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or anyother network equipment.

Power circuitry QQ187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power managementcircuitry and is configured to supply the components of network nodeQQ160 with power for performing the functionality described herein.Power circuitry QQ187 may receive power from power source QQ186. Powersource QQ186 and/or power circuitry QQ187 may be configured to providepower to the various components of network node QQ160 in a form suitablefor the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current levelneeded for each respective component). Power source QQ186 may either beincluded in, or external to, power circuitry QQ187 and/or network nodeQQ160. For example, network node QQ160 may be connectable to an externalpower source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry orinterface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power sourcesupplies power to power circuitry QQ187. As a further example, powersource QQ186 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery orbattery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitryQQ187. The battery may provide backup power should the external powersource fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices,may also be used.

Alternative embodiments of network node QQ160 may include additionalcomponents beyond those shown in FIG. 14 that may be responsible forproviding certain aspects of the network node's functionality, includingany of the functionality described herein and/or any functionalitynecessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example,network node QQ160 may include user interface equipment to allow inputof information into network node QQ160 and to allow output ofinformation from network node QQ160. This may allow a user to performdiagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions fornetwork node QQ160.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable,configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly withnetwork nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, theterm WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE).Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receivingwireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infraredwaves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying informationthrough air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmitand/or receive information without direct human interaction. Forinstance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on apredetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event,or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include,but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, avoice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktopcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, agaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance,a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, atablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mountedequipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment(CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may supportdevice-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPPstandard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V),vehicle-to-infrastructure (V21), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may inthis case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet anotherspecific example, in an Internet of Things (loT) scenario, a WD mayrepresent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/ormeasurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/ormeasurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD may in thiscase be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP contextbe referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD maybe a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT)standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors,metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home orpersonal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personalwearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, aWD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable ofmonitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functionsassociated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent theendpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may bereferred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described abovemay be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobiledevice or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device QQ110 includes antenna QQ111, interfaceQQ114, processing circuitry QQ120, device readable medium QQ130, userinterface equipment QQ132, auxiliary equipment QQ134, power source QQ136and power circuitry QQ137. WD QQ110 may include multiple sets of one ormore of the illustrated components for different wireless technologiessupported by WD QQ110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi,WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. Thesewireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chipsor set of chips as other components within WD QQ110.

Antenna QQ111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected tointerface QQ114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna QQ111 maybe separate from WD QQ110 and be connectable to WD QQ110 through aninterface or port. Antenna QQ111, interface QQ114, and/or processingcircuitry QQ120 may be configured to perform any receiving ortransmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Anyinformation, data and/or signals may be received from a network nodeand/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/orantenna QQ111 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface QQ114 comprises radio front end circuitryQQ112 and antenna QQ111. Radio front end circuitry QQ112 comprise one ormore filters QQ118 and amplifiers QQ116. Radio front end circuitry QQ114is connected to antenna QQ111 and processing circuitry QQ120, and isconfigured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ111 andprocessing circuitry QQ120. Radio front end circuitry QQ112 may becoupled to or a part of antenna QQ111. In some embodiments, WD QQ110 maynot include separate radio front end circuitry QQ112; rather, processingcircuitry QQ120 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may beconnected to antenna QQ111. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or allof RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be considered a part of interfaceQQ114. Radio front end circuitry QQ112 may receive digital data that isto be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection.Radio front end circuitry QQ112 may convert the digital data into aradio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parametersusing a combination of filters QQ118 and/or amplifiers QQ116. The radiosignal may then be transmitted via antenna QQ111. Similarly, whenreceiving data, antenna QQ111 may collect radio signals which are thenconverted into digital data by radio front end circuitry QQ112. Thedigital data may be passed to processing circuitry QQ120. In otherembodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/ordifferent combinations of components.

Processing circuitry QQ120 may comprise a combination of one or more ofa microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD QQ110components, such as device readable medium QQ130, WD QQ110functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of thevarious wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example,processing circuitry QQ120 may execute instructions stored in devicereadable medium QQ130 or in memory within processing circuitry QQ120 toprovide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry QQ120 includes one or more of RFtransceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, andapplication processing circuitry QQ126. In other embodiments, theprocessing circuitry may comprise different components and/or differentcombinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitryQQ120 of WD QQ110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RFtransceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, andapplication processing circuitry QQ126 may be on separate chips or setsof chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processingcircuitry QQ124 and application processing circuitry QQ126 may becombined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitryQQ122 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternativeembodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 and basebandprocessing circuitry QQ124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, andapplication processing circuitry QQ126 may be on a separate chip or setof chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RFtransceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, andapplication processing circuitry QQ126 may be combined in the same chipor set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 maybe a part of interface QQ114. RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 maycondition RF signals for processing circuitry QQ120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processingcircuitry QQ120 executing instructions stored on device readable mediumQQ130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storagemedium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality maybe provided by processing circuitry QQ120 without executing instructionsstored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such asin a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whetherexecuting instructions stored on a device readable storage medium ornot, processing circuitry QQ120 can be configured to perform thedescribed functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality arenot limited to processing circuitry QQ120 alone or to other componentsof WD QQ110, but are enjoyed by WD QQ110 as a whole, and/or by end usersand the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry QQ120 may be configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, asperformed by processing circuitry QQ120, may include processinginformation obtained by processing circuitry QQ120 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedby WD QQ110, and/or performing one or more operations based on theobtained information or converted information, and as a result of saidprocessing making a determination.

Device readable medium QQ130 may be operable to store a computerprogram, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules,code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executedby processing circuitry QQ120. Device readable medium QQ130 may includecomputer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory(ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media(e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or anyother volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/orcomputer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/orinstructions that may be used by processing circuitry QQ120. In someembodiments, processing circuitry QQ120 and device readable medium QQ130may be considered to be integrated. User interface equipment QQ132 mayprovide components that allow for a human user to interact with WDQQ110. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial,tactile, etc. User interface equipment QQ132 may be operable to produceoutput to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD QQ110.The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interfaceequipment QQ132 installed in WD QQ110. For example, if WD QQ110 is asmart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD QQ110 is asmart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage(e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audiblealert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment QQ132 mayinclude input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces,devices and circuits. User interface equipment QQ132 is configured toallow input of information into WD QQ110, and is connected to processingcircuitry QQ120 to allow processing circuitry QQ120 to process the inputinformation. User interface equipment QQ132 may include, for example, amicrophone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display,one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. Userinterface equipment QQ132 is also configured to allow output ofinformation from WD QQ110, and to allow processing circuitry QQ120 tooutput information from WD QQ110. User interface equipment QQ132 mayinclude, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USBport, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one ormore input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of userinterface equipment QQ132, WD QQ110 may communicate with end usersand/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from thefunctionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment QQ134 is operable to provide more specificfunctionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This maycomprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for variouspurposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wiredcommunications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliaryequipment QQ134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source QQ136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a batteryor battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external powersource (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or powercells, may also be used. WD QQ110 may further comprise power circuitryQQ137 for delivering power from power source QQ136 to the various partsof WD QQ110 which need power from power source QQ136 to carry out anyfunctionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry QQ137 mayin certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Powercircuitry QQ137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receivepower from an external power source; in which case WD QQ110 may beconnectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet)via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable.Power circuitry QQ137 may also in certain embodiments be operable todeliver power from an external power source to power source QQ136. Thismay be, for example, for the charging of power source QQ136. Powercircuitry QQ137 may perform any formatting, converting, or othermodification to the power from power source QQ136 to make the powersuitable for the respective components of WD QQ110 to which power issupplied.

FIG. 15: User Equipment in accordance with some embodiments

FIG. 15 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with variousaspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may notnecessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/oroperates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device thatis intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which maynot, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific humanuser (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE mayrepresent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, anend user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit ofa user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE QQ2200 may be any UE identifiedby the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE,a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.UE QQ200, as illustrated in FIG. 15, is one example of a WD configuredfor communication in accordance with one or more communication standardspromulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, theterm WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG.15 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to aWD, and vice-versa.

In FIG. 15, UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ201 that isoperatively coupled to input/output interface QQ205, radio frequency(RF) interface QQ209, network connection interface QQ211, memory QQ215including random access memory (RAM) QQ217, read-only memory (ROM)QQ219, and storage medium QQ221 or the like, communication subsystemQQ231, power source QQ233, and/or any other component, or anycombination thereof. Storage medium QQ221 includes operating systemQQ223, application program QQ225, and data QQ227. In other embodiments,storage medium QQ221 may include other similar types of information.Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIG. 15, or onlya subset of the components. The level of integration between thecomponents may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs maycontain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors,memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIG. 15, processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to processcomputer instructions and data. Processing circuitry QQ201 may beconfigured to implement any sequential state machine operative toexecute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computerprograms in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented statemachines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logictogether with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program,general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combinationof the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ201 may includetwo central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a formsuitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface QQ205 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to an input device,output device, or input and output device. UE QQ200 may be configured touse an output device via input/output interface QQ205. An output devicemay use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example,a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE QQ200. Theoutput device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, amonitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another outputdevice, or any combination thereof. UE QQ200 may be configured to use aninput device via input/output interface QQ205 to allow a user to captureinformation into UE QQ200. The input device may include atouch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digitalcamera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, asensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scrollwheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display mayinclude a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from auser. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, atilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, aproximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. Forexample, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, adigital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In FIG. 15, RF interface QQ209 may be configured to provide acommunication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, areceiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface QQ211 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to network QQ243 a.Network QQ243 a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as alocal-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network,a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like networkor any combination thereof. For example, network QQ243 a may comprise aWi-Fi network. Network connection interface QQ211 may be configured toinclude a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate withone or more other devices over a communication network according to oneor more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM,or the like. Network connection interface QQ211 may implement receiverand transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication networklinks (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter andreceiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware,or alternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM QQ217 may be configured to interface via bus QQ202 to processingcircuitry QQ201 to provide storage or caching of data or computerinstructions during the execution of software programs such as theoperating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM QQ219may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processingcircuitry QQ201. For example, ROM QQ219 may be configured to storeinvariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions suchas basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokesfrom a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage mediumQQ221 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmableread-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magneticdisks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, orflash drives. In one example, storage medium QQ221 may be configured toinclude operating system QQ223, application program QQ225 such as a webbrowser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application,and data file QQ227. Storage medium QQ221 may store, for use by UEQQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations ofoperating systems.

Storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include a number of physicaldrive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppydisk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive,thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc(HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray opticaldisc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive,external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcardmemory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity(SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storagemedium QQ221 may allow UE QQ200 to access computer-executableinstructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory ornon-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. Anarticle of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system maybe tangibly embodied in storage medium QQ221, which may comprise adevice readable medium.

In FIG. 15, processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to communicatewith network QQ243 b using communication subsystem QQ231. Network QQ243a and network QQ243 b may be the same network or networks or differentnetwork or networks. Communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured toinclude one or more transceivers used to communicate with network QQ243b. For example, communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured toinclude one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or moreremote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communicationsuch as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN)according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.QQ2,CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver mayinclude transmitter QQ233 and/or receiver QQ235 to implement transmitteror receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links(e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter QQ233and receiver QQ235 of each transceiver may share circuit components,software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions ofcommunication subsystem QQ231 may include data communication, voicecommunication, multimedia communication, short-range communications suchas Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communicationsuch as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine alocation, another like communication function, or any combinationthereof. For example, communication subsystem QQ231 may include cellularcommunication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPScommunication. Network QQ243 b may encompass wired and/or wirelessnetworks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN),a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network,another like network or any combination thereof. For example, networkQQ243 b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-fieldnetwork. Power source QQ213 may be configured to provide alternatingcurrent (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE QQ200.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may beimplemented in one of the components of UE QQ200 or partitioned acrossmultiple components of UE QQ200. Further, the features, benefits, and/orfunctions described herein may be implemented in any combination ofhardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystemQQ231 may be configured to include any of the components describedherein. Further, processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured tocommunicate with any of such components over bus QQ202. In anotherexample, any of such components may be represented by programinstructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitryQQ201 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In anotherexample, the functionality of any of such components may be partitionedbetween processing circuitry QQ201 and communication subsystem QQ231. Inanother example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any ofsuch components may be implemented in software or firmware and thecomputationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

FIG. 16: Virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualizationenvironment QQ300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments maybe virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creatingvirtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may includevirtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networkingresources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node(e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) orto a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type ofcommunication device) or components thereof and relates to animplementation in which at least a portion of the functionality isimplemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or moreapplications, components, functions, virtual machines or containersexecuting on one or more physical processing nodes in one or morenetworks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein maybe implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtualmachines implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ300 hosted byone or more of hardware nodes QQ330. Further, in embodiments in whichthe virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radioconnectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may beentirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications QQ320(which may alternatively be called software instances, virtualappliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions,etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/orbenefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications QQ320are run in virtualization environment QQ300 which provides hardwareQQ330 comprising processing circuitry QQ360 and memory QQ390. MemoryQQ390 contains instructions QQ395 executable by processing circuitryQQ360 whereby application QQ320 is operative to provide one or more ofthe features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment QQ300, comprises general-purpose orspecial-purpose network hardware devices QQ330 comprising a set of oneor more processors or processing circuitry QQ360, which may becommercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processingcircuitry including digital or analog hardware components or specialpurpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory QQ390-1which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructionsQQ395 or software executed by processing circuitry QQ360. Each hardwaredevice may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs)QQ370, also known as network interface cards, which include physicalnetwork interface QQ380. Each hardware device may also includenon-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media QQ390-2having stored therein software QQ395 and/or instructions executable byprocessing circuitry QQ360. Software QQ395 may include any type ofsoftware including software for instantiating one or more virtualizationlayers QQ350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to executevirtual machines QQ340 as well as software allowing it to executefunctions, features and/or benefits described in relation with someembodiments described herein.

Virtual machines QQ340, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory,virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by acorresponding virtualization layer QQ350 or hypervisor. Differentembodiments of the instance of virtual appliance QQ320 may beimplemented on one or more of virtual machines QQ340, and theimplementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry QQ360 executes software QQ395 toinstantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer QQ350, which maysometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM).Virtualization layer QQ350 may present a virtual operating platform thatappears like networking hardware to virtual machine QQ340.

As shown in FIG. 16, hardware QQ330 may be a standalone network nodewith generic or specific components. Hardware QQ330 may comprise antennaQQ3225 and may implement some functions via virtualization.Alternatively, hardware QQ330 may be part of a larger cluster ofhardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment(CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed viamanagement and orchestration (MANO) QQ3100, which, among others,oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ320.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to asnetwork function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidatemany network equipment types onto industry standard high volume serverhardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be locatedin data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine QQ340 may be a softwareimplementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they wereexecuting on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtualmachines QQ340, and that part of hardware QQ330 that executes thatvirtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/orhardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtualmachines QQ340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) isresponsible for handling specific network functions that run in one ormore virtual machines QQ340 on top of hardware networking infrastructureQQ330 and corresponds to application QQ320 in FIG. 16.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units QQ3200 that each includeone or more transmitters QQ3220 and one or more receivers QQ3210 may becoupled to one or more antennas QQ3225. Radio units QQ3200 maycommunicate directly with hardware nodes QQ330 via one or moreappropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with thevirtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities,such as a radio access node or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use ofcontrol system QQ3230 which may alternatively be used for communicationbetween the hardware nodes QQ330 and radio units QQ3200.

FIG. 17: Telecommunication network connected via an intermediate networkto a host computer in accordance with some embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 17, in accordance with an embodiment, acommunication system includes telecommunication network QQ410, such as a3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network QQ411, suchas a radio access network, and core network QQ414. Access network QQ411comprises a plurality of base stations QQ412 a, QQ412 b, QQ412 c, suchas NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, eachdefining a corresponding coverage area QQ413 a, QQ413 b, QQ413 c. Eachbase station QQ412 a, QQ412 b, QQ412 c is connectable to core networkQQ414 over a wired or wireless connection QQ415. A first UE QQ491located in coverage area QQ413 c is configured to wirelessly connect to,or be paged by, the corresponding base station QQ412 c. A second UEQQ492 in coverage area QQ413 a is wirelessly connectable to thecorresponding base station QQ412 a. While a plurality of UEs QQ491,QQ492 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments areequally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coveragearea or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base stationQQ412.

Telecommunication network QQ410 is itself connected to host computerQQ430, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of astandalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server oras processing resources in a server farm. Host computer QQ430 may beunder the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operatedby the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.Connections QQ421 and QQ422 between telecommunication network QQ410 andhost computer QQ430 may extend directly from core network QQ414 to hostcomputer QQ430 or may go via an optional intermediate network QQ420.Intermediate network QQ420 may be one of, or a combination of more thanone of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network QQ420,if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular,intermediate network QQ420 may comprise two or more sub-networks (notshown).

The communication system of FIG. 17 as a whole enables connectivitybetween the connected UEs QQ491, QQ492 and host computer QQ430. Theconnectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ450.Host computer QQ430 and the connected UEs QQ491, QQ492 are configured tocommunicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection QQ450, using accessnetwork QQ411, core network QQ414, any intermediate network QQ420 andpossible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTTconnection QQ450 may be transparent in the sense that the participatingcommunication devices through which OTT connection QQ450 passes areunaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example,base station QQ412 may not or need not be informed about the pastrouting of an incoming downlink communication with data originating fromhost computer QQ430 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connectedUE QQ491. Similarly, base station QQ412 need not be aware of the futurerouting of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UEQQ491 towards the host computer QQ430.

FIG. 18: Host computer communicating via a base station with a userequipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with someembodiments.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE,base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphswill now be described with reference to FIG. 18. In communication systemQQ500, host computer QQ510 comprises hardware QQ515 includingcommunication interface QQ516 configured to set up and maintain a wiredor wireless connection with an interface of a different communicationdevice of communication system QQ500. Host computer QQ510 furthercomprises processing circuitry QQ518, which may have storage and/orprocessing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry QQ518 maycomprise one or more programmable processors, application-specificintegrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations ofthese (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer QQ510further comprises software QQ511, which is stored in or accessible byhost computer QQ510 and executable by processing circuitry QQ518.Software QQ511 includes host application QQ512. Host application QQ512may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE QQ530connecting via OTT connection QQ550 terminating at UE QQ530 and hostcomputer QQ510. In providing the service to the remote user, hostapplication QQ512 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTTconnection QQ550.

Communication system QQ500 further includes base station QQ520 providedin a telecommunication system and comprising hardware QQ525 enabling itto communicate with host computer QQ510 and with UE QQ530. HardwareQQ525 may include communication interface QQ526 for setting up andmaintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of adifferent communication device of communication system QQ500, as well asradio interface QQ527 for setting up and maintaining at least wirelessconnection QQ570 with UE QQ530 located in a coverage area (not shown inFIG. 18) served by base station QQ520. Communication interface QQ526 maybe configured to facilitate connection QQ560 to host computer QQ510.Connection QQ560 may be direct or it may pass through a core network(not shown in FIG. 18) of the telecommunication system and/or throughone or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system.In the embodiment shown, hardware QQ525 of base station QQ520 furtherincludes processing circuitry QQ528, which may comprise one or moreprogrammable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, fieldprogrammable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted toexecute instructions. Base station QQ520 further has software QQ521stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system QQ500 further includes UE QQ530 already referredto. Its hardware QQ535 may include radio interface QQ537 configured toset up and maintain wireless connection QQ570 with a base stationserving a coverage area in which UE QQ530 is currently located. HardwareQQ535 of UE QQ530 further includes processing circuitry QQ538, which maycomprise one or more programmable processors, application-specificintegrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations ofthese (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE QQ530 furthercomprises software QQ531, which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ530and executable by processing circuitry QQ538. Software QQ531 includesclient application QQ532. Client application QQ532 may be operable toprovide a service to a human or non-human user via UE QQ530, with thesupport of host computer QQ510. In host computer QQ510, an executinghost application QQ512 may communicate with the executing clientapplication QQ532 via OTT connection QQ550 terminating at UE QQ530 andhost computer QQ510. In providing the service to the user, clientapplication QQ532 may receive request data from host application QQ512and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connectionQQ550 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Clientapplication QQ532 may interact with the user to generate the user datathat it provides.

It is noted that host computer QQ510, base station QQ520 and UE QQ530illustrated in FIG. 18 may be similar or identical to host computerQQ430, one of base stations QQ412 a, QQ412 b, QQ412 c and one of UEsQQ491, QQ492 of FIG. 17, respectively. This is to say, the innerworkings of these entities may be as shown in FIG. 18 and independently,the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 17.

In FIG. 18, OTT connection QQ550 has been drawn abstractly to illustratethe communication between host computer QQ510 and UE QQ530 via basestation QQ520, without explicit reference to any intermediary devicesand the precise routing of messages via these devices. Networkinfrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured tohide from UE QQ530 or from the service provider operating host computerQQ510, or both. While OTT connection QQ550 is active, the networkinfrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamicallychanges the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing considerationor reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection QQ570 between UE QQ530 and base station QQ520 is inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments may improve theperformance of OTT services provided to UE QQ530 using OTT connectionQQ550, in which wireless connection QQ570 forms the last segment. Moreprecisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the deblockfiltering for video processing and thereby provide benefits such asimproved video encoding and/or decoding.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoringdata rate, latency and other factors on which the one or moreembodiments improve. There may further be an optional networkfunctionality for reconfiguring OTT connection QQ550 between hostcomputer QQ510 and UE QQ530, in response to variations in themeasurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the networkfunctionality for reconfiguring OTT connection QQ550 may be implementedin software QQ511 and hardware QQ515 of host computer QQ510 or insoftware QQ531 and hardware QQ535 of UE QQ530, or both. In embodiments,sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association withcommunication devices through which OTT connection QQ550 passes; thesensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying valuesof the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values ofother physical quantities from which software QQ511, QQ531 may computeor estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTTconnection QQ550 may include message format, retransmission settings,preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base stationQQ520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station QQ520.Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in theart. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UEsignaling facilitating host computer QQ510's measurements of throughput,propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may beimplemented in that software QQ511 and QQ531 causes messages to betransmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTTconnection QQ550 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIG. 19: Methods implemented in a communication system including a hostcomputer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to Figures QQ4 and QQ5. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 19will be included in this section. In step QQ610, the host computerprovides user data. In substep QQ611 (which may be optional) of stepQQ610, the host computer provides the user data by executing a hostapplication. In step QQ620, the host computer initiates a transmissioncarrying the user data to the UE. In step QQ630 (which may be optional),the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried inthe transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance withthe teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.In step QQ640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a clientapplication associated with the host application executed by the hostcomputer.

FIG. 20: Methods implemented in a communication system including a hostcomputer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to Figures QQ4 and QQ5. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 20will be included in this section. In step QQ710 of the method, the hostcomputer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the hostcomputer provides the user data by executing a host application. In stepQQ720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user datato the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordancewith the teachings of the embodiments described throughout thisdisclosure. In step QQ730 (which may be optional), the UE receives theuser data carried in the transmission.

FIG. 21: Methods implemented in a communication system including a hostcomputer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to Figures QQ4 and QQ5. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 21will be included in this section. In step QQ810 (which may be optional),the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionallyor alternatively, in step QQ820, the UE provides user data. In substepQQ821 (which may be optional) of step QQ820, the UE provides the userdata by executing a client application. In substep QQ811 (which may beoptional) of step QQ810, the UE executes a client application whichprovides the user data in reaction to the received input data providedby the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed clientapplication may further consider user input received from the user.Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided,the UE initiates, in substep QQ830 (which may be optional), transmissionof the user data to the host computer. In step QQ840 of the method, thehost computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure.

FIG. 22: Methods implemented in a communication system including a hostcomputer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to Figures QQ4 and QQ5. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 22will be included in this section. In step QQ910 (which may be optional),in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. Instep QQ920 (which may be optional), the base station initiatestransmission of the received user data to the host computer. In stepQQ930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user datacarried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefitsdisclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional unitsor modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatusmay comprise a number of these functional units. These functional unitsmay be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one ormore microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digitalhardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs),special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitrymay be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which mayinclude one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, opticalstorage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes programinstructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or datacommunications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one ormore of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, theprocessing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unitto perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics,electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, forexample, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules,processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices,computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks,procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and soon, as such as those that are described herein.

1. A method of operating a radio unit (RU) in a network node of awireless communication system, comprising: receiving, at the radio unitand from a lower-layer split central unit (LLS-CU) a plurality ofdownlink signals that include reference symbols (RS) and user datadownlink (UD-DL) messages to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE)over a wireless interface; accumulating received data corresponding tothe plurality of downlink signals into a concentrated data format; andreceiving a data-associated control information (DACI) message includinga section description associated with the plurality of downlink signals,the DACI message including an indication of how to perform theaccumulating data operation.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theplurality of downlink signals that include the RS and UD-DL messagescomprise independent ranges in time and/or frequency, the method furthercomprising determining a signaling priority of overlapping resourceelements (RE) samples and/or overlapping beam forming commands.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising multiplexing the RS and the UD-DLin the RU.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising mapping the REsamples to a plurality of RU ports and generating a beam vector thatincludes a plurality of RE beam weights that correspond to respectiveones of the plurality of RU ports.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theDACI message comprises a field that indicates which REs are omitted froma user plane UD-DL, wherein the field comprises a combination of a REmask that indicates which of the RE's a user is using and a symbol maskthat indicates symbols in which the RE mask is valid.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the DACI message comprises a field that indicates apriority of a section of a physical resource block (PRB), wherein theindication includes information that the section over-rules a previoussection.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the DACI message comprises afield that indicates which of a plurality of RE's is not included in theUD-DL message.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the DACI messagecomprises a field that indicates a priority of a RE sample, wherein apriority RE sample will not be overwritten by a subsequent UD-DLmessage.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the DACI message includesdata regarding which direction a given one of a plurality of RU portswill transmit in.
 10. A radio unit (RU) in a network node of a wirelesscommunication system, comprising: a processor circuit; a transceiverthat is coupled to the processor circuit and that is configured tocommunicate with a lower-layer split central unit (LLS-CU); and a memorythat is coupled to the processor circuit, the memory comprising machinereadable program instructions that, when executed by the processorcircuit, cause the RU to perform operations comprising: receiving, atthe RU and from the LLS-CU, a plurality of downlink symbols and downlinkuser data to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) over a wirelessinterface; accumulating data corresponding to the plurality of downlinksymbols into a concentrated data format; receiving a data-associatedcontrol information (DACI) message including a section descriptionassociated with the plurality of downlink signals, the DACI messageincluding an indication of how to perform the accumulating dataoperation; multiplexing the plurality of downlink symbols and/or theplurality of user data messages in the RU; and mapping resourceelements, (RE) samples in the plurality of downlink symbols and/ordownlink user data to be transmitted to the UE, to a plurality of RUports.
 11. The network node of claim 10, wherein the DACI messagecomprises a field that indicates which REs are omitted from a user planeuser data downlink (UD-DL), wherein the field comprises a combination ofa RE mask that indicates which of the RE's a user is using and a symbolmask that indicates symbols in which the RE mask is valid.
 12. Thenetwork node of claim 10, wherein the DACI message comprises a fieldthat indicates a priority of a section of a physical resource block(PRB), wherein the indication includes information that the sectionover-rules a previous section.
 13. The network node of claim 10, whereinthe RS and the UD-DL data to be transmitted to the user equipment arereceived in a user data down link UD-DL message, and wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which of a plurality of RE's isnot included in the UD-DL message.
 14. The network node of claim 10,wherein the DACI message comprises a field that indicates a priority ofa RE sample, wherein a priority RE sample will not be overwritten by asubsequent UD-DL message.
 15. The network node of claim 10, wherein theDACI message includes data regarding which direction a given one of aplurality of RU ports will transmit in. 16-17. (canceled)
 18. A methodof operating lower-layer split central unit (LLS-CU) in a network nodeof a wireless communication system, comprising: sending, withoutaccumulating or multiplexing, to a radio unit (RU) a plurality ofdownlink signals that include reference symbols (RS) and user datadownlink (UD-DL) messages to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE)over a wireless interface; and sending, to the RU, a data-associatedcontrol information DACI message including a section description thatinstructs the RU how to accumulate the plurality of downlink signals.19. The method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of downlink signalscomprise independent ranges in time and/or frequency.
 20. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the DACI message comprises a field that indicateswhich REs are omitted from a user plane UD-DL, wherein the fieldcomprises a combination of a RE mask that indicates which of the RE's auser is using and a symbol mask that indicates symbols in which the REmask is valid. 21-22. (canceled)
 23. The method of claim 18, wherein theDACI message comprises a field that indicates a priority of a RE sample,wherein a priority RE sample will not be overwritten by a subsequentUD-DL message.
 24. The method of claim 18, wherein the DACI messageincludes data regarding which direction a given one of a plurality of RUports will transmit in.
 25. A lower-layer split central unit (LLS-CU) ina network node of a wireless communication system, comprising: aprocessor circuit; a transceiver that is coupled to the processorcircuit and that is configured to communicate with the LLS-CU; and amemory that is coupled to the processor circuit, the memory comprisingmachine readable program instructions that, when executed by theprocessor circuit, cause the LLS-CU to perform operations comprising:sending, without accumulating or multiplexing, to a radio unit (RU) aplurality of downlink signals that include reference symbols, RS, anduser data downlink (UD-DL) messages to be transmitted to a userequipment (UE) over a wireless interface; and sending, to the RU, adata-associated control information (DACI) message including a sectiondescription that instructs the RU how to accumulate the plurality ofdownlink signals.
 26. The network node of claim 25, wherein the DACImessage comprises a field that indicates which REs are omitted from auser plane UD-DL, wherein the field comprises a combination of a RE maskthat indicates which of the RE's a user is using and a symbol mask thatindicates symbols in which the RE mask is valid.
 27. The network node ofclaim 25, wherein the DACI message comprises a field that indicates apriority of a section of a physical resource block (PRB), wherein theindication includes information that the section over-rules a previoussection. 28-32. (canceled)